Tuesday, July 26, 2011

What you do, how you dress, the way you love someone and how you talk.

Your smile and your personality.

What you believe in and all your dreams.

The way you drink your tea, how you decorate your home, or party.

Your grocery list, the food you make, how your writing looks, and the way you feel.'

I think it really is in the little things.

Little bits of happiness spread through out your day is a wonderful thing.

We all celebrate life differently.

We all observe and see it from our own unique perspectives.

I love what I do because it let's me see your world from your view.

If I hug you hello and ask you a million questions within the first five minutes we meet, its cause I really want to know what make you tick. I really want to know how you look at life. Why you are...you.

If I'm photographing your life, I want you to be living it while I'm capturing it.

While traditional images are important, the 'in between' is the story that brings those symbolic images to life.

The expressions, the character, and the personality.

Just my quick 2 cents today!
Now, let me get back to editing. I have been a busy bee.

Before I go...a quick image taken when we were up at the Lake House a few weekends ago.
Thanks Leah and True!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

There is nothing that can even begin to prepare you for your first child.

It's as if you are seeing the word for the first time through their eyes.

Everything is new.

Everything changes.

Moments are more precious.

Life is more delicate.

Love is more grand.

And such small moments seem so big.

Motherhood is like a secret club.

There is no way to even explain it.

The world we once knew, no longer exists.

And we almost can't remember what life was like before we had our first babe.

We have grown, changed and we will move heaven and earth all upon our first seconds meeting them.

Welcome to the other side Danielle!

The other side where the days start to blend, and you may go a day or two without make-up.

When you will be given advice that you don't necessarily want from other mother's, and you will love more then you ever thought possible.

This side is hectic, this side is crazy.

This side is everything and nothing you thought.

This side will feel as if your heart is to big for the in...side and as if your heart
has to now walk on the out..side.

Welcome to the world Ms. Angelina Nicolle...and welcome to parenthood Danielle and Mike!

I love this perspective.

and this one too...

Seriously. Look. At. That. Hair. I was in love. I adore the wisps around the nape of the neck.**sighhh**

A blessing...

What a doll, huh?

'Sugar and spice and everything nice...'

We are turned upside down and inside out from their first breath.
And while we may never feel like we ever have it together anymore, we pray that the feeling never ever
subsides.

Thank you Danielle and Mike for letting me take up partial residents with all of my props for the session ; )
May your new little bundle brings lots of laughter, happiness and love to your already full lives!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

I use to be one of those people that would keep a journal. I would jot down quotes, funny things I heard, news about my life and the world around me. Once I had my kids, the journal entries were few and far between. It was a paradox.
The more I had to write, the more I couldn't.
My full life gave me no time to reflect on what was happening at the time.

My mother told me when I was young that she wrote herself a letter and then sealed it in an envelope to be opened five years later.
I remember thinking to myself that five years was an eternity.
I scoffed at the idea.
How would I even remember to look for it?!

It was 1996 when I wrote my first one. I was 18.
I wrote about where I was in life and what I wanted to achieve.
The areas that were disappointing to me and the things I wanted to do differently.
I wrote about my family and each person in it.
The penmanship was practically a scribble.
I sealed the envelope and marked it...
'DO NOT READ UNTIL JULY 2001'.
I laughed at the thought of even coming across it again.
I mean I couldn't even find my other shoe most days.
(and I had taken them right off next to each other).
Please tell me that happens to some of you too?

Anyway, back to the subject...lo and behold five years to the date, I was unpacking boxes at my new apartment and there it was. I found it in the month and the year I was suppose to. I was amazed by that alone. I remember grabbing an ice cream sandwich out of the freezer as if to celebrate the occasion.
I stopped what I was doing, cuddled up on the couch and opened the letter.

You know how a picture brings you back to a moment in time?
Reading my words, thoughts, ideas and memories was like visiting a long lost friend.
I knew 'her', but I didn't quite remember her until I saw her in black and white.
It was me at 23, seeing me at 18.
It was enlightening, fun, sad, heartwarming and special.

Ever since then, I have tried to write letters to myself to be opened every five years.
Like clock work, I find them five years later...exactly to the month and date.
Each time, I'm still surprised to find it.

The letters are written around my birthday or new year - those two times are the most
nostalgic for me and signify change.

I have maintained the tradition but I have spared myself (and maybe my children) from reading my handwriting after I wrote the first. I typed the ones there after.

The letters are never the same.
Life changes things.
People. My little 'world'. Even me.

The one thing that has not changed in my letters each year is the part where
I'm thankful for the people in my life.
My family, friends and even acquaintances.
Your steadfast support, love, and humor are what I think about most when I think about change.
You have changed me and my world for the better.

FYI...my daughter was born on the 22nd ; )

***

I think the main thing about celebrating a birthday is to do it thoughtfully.

You know that saying, 'it's the thought that counts'?!

That's actually true.

I use to think it was the actions.

The unexpected card in the mail, the phone call from a friend who thought of you.

That's the happiness you can't wrap up.

I signed on to Facebook yesterday and while everyone gets a notification that it was my birthday, I was still overwhelmed by the people that actually took a minute to stop by my 'wall' and write a note. Each and every one of you put a smile on my face. Really. Each and every one of you. I saw family, friends, clients, past clients, new friends, and photography friends. It was amazing to see how my circle of friends has grown in the last year and I'm so very thankful for each of you. Every single one of you has added to my life...

I think this quote sums it all up:

"...For I am but a total of the many folks I've met, and you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Every summer when I was a kid, we would head to the 'mountains' (Upstate, New York)

and rent a small, cozy cabin nestled in the Catskills.

My grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins would come to vacation with us as well.

The days were filled with potato sack races, 'kick the can', and catching tadpoles in the lake.

The creek that lulled us to sleep at night was where we soaked up the sunshine during the day.

We would dip our feet in the ice cold water, and dare each other to take a step further in until we were up to our bellies laughing and shivering at the same time.

At night the camp fire lead to gooey toasted marshmallows and listening to music played on cassette tapes (remember those?), while our folks enjoyed cocktails in the lawn chairs and the kids

slurped Shirley Temples.

We watched our parents play horse shoes, scrabble, and gamble their quarters away

during late night poker games.

They laughed loudly over one another and spoke about the previous years memories.

Early mornings were spent with wet feet from the dew on the grass and the air still smelled like the wood we burned the night before. We would watch the world come awake. Slowly. Even the creak of the screen doors as they greeted the morning sounded as if they were tired from the day before.

My Aunt Kathy would take us on morning or evening walks and show us the

puffs of smoke on the mountain side and explain

to us about the fairies that lived there.

She would talk about their lives in great detail.

Way before Tinkerbell was famous and fairies were popular, we believed.

A part of me still does.

***

Adryanna's 6th birthday was held at Scudder Beach which over looks Northport Harbor.

Picturesque, cozy and secluded.

A large pavilion kept us covered, while we celebrated her day with pixie dust, fairy wings

and our imaginations.

Each of the fairies were given their wings, wands, crown, outfits and fairy pails to collect their treasure.

The wonderful items were made by 'Fairy Nana' of Fairy Nana Land on Etsy.